Clear as Glass
by Dylan Storm
Summary: It's a new year for Rachel Berry, Noah Puckerman hasn't said a word in months, and Jackson Davies hates this place.


**So this is an experiment on my part. I'm obsessed with Glee, and Puckleberry, and have been reading fics for a while now. I haven't written any, mostly due to time, but this character popped into my head, and for some reason he just fit into the world of Glee. My mind wouldn't stop until I'd flushed out a back story for this new character, and how he ends up interacting with the Glee characters.**

**I'm not a big fan of original characters, but this wouldn't leave me head, and after a few weeks I decided to hell with it, and started writing it down.**

**So yea, let me know what you think. And no worries, while Jackson is a new boy in the Glee world, this story will eventually be heavy on the Puckleberry.**

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It was a new year for Rachel Berry.

She sits in her car staring at the hordes of students flooding into McKinley High before the bell rings.

After a summer away, a respite from the complete mess that was last year, Rachel doesn't want to face anything. Everything.

People stare at the new Rachel Berry as she walks down the hall. Ballet flats, skinny jeans and a loose black tank top; she's hardly the same girl from last year.

No one approaches her. While they are all curious, no one cares enough to make an effort. Business as usual.

Rachel slowly spins the combination to her locker, mentally checking off her schedule in her head, determining the books she'll need for class. She stuffs her history book and a binder into her shoulder bag, her wheeled contraption of a backpack a thing of the past.

The warning bell rings for first period, and she sighs. She'll come back to her locker before Spanish.

Turning around, she starts to walk down the hall when she spots them. It gives her pause, only for a moment, before she composes herself and continues walking.

She passes Finn and Santana on her way to history, pointedly not looking their way, as they cuddle and kiss in front of Santana's locker. Finn doesn't even look up as she walks by, but Santana notices.

All Rachel gets is a raised eyebrow.

Later, Rachel sits in history, tapping her pencil against her paper. Her junior year at McKinley was starting out as such a stark contrast from her previous two years.

She is thankful for her months away at Julliard's summer program. She'd met some amazing people there, honest to God friends for the first time in her life. They'd succeeding in mellowing her out a bit, showing her that you can still be talented, be a star, without the high-strung obsession with competition.

So here she is, a normal kid for once. Hating school, counting the minutes till the bell rings. She has rehearsal this afternoon, and that's all she's looking forward too. Rachel's leg jitters as she doodles in her notebook.

Rachel always thought normal was overrated, that exceptional was a must. She was still exceptional, but the packaging was different. She still catches herself wanting to put on a plaid skirt with that cute cat sweater her nana bought her a few years back. She sometimes wonders if she's selling herself out.

The bell rings, and she packs up her books. An hour into the school day, and she hasn't said anything more than "here" during attendance.

* * *

Jackson Davies hates this place.

He walks up to his locker after first period, and rips it open with a slam. Ignoring the stares from pretty much everyone within breathing distance, he stuffs the shit from last period in, and tries to remember what's coming next. Math? Spanish? Fuck if he knows.

He thinks for a second. So what if he doesn't have a book for the next class, he doesn't plan on doing anything anyways.

He slams his locker shut, and jumps as Elliott's grinning face appears where his locker door used to be.

"Fuck," He swears, pushing his brother back a little. "Why you gotta sneak up on me like that El? It's creepy."

Elliott laughs as he pushes Jack back, "Dude, don't be jealous of my ninja skills. You didn't even know I was there."

"Fuck off, dipshit." He gives his brother a look.

"You're such a sunny person in the morning" Elliott teases as they walk down the hall, garnering attention as they go. McKinley doesn't see new students very often, and these two boys have been ignoring the rest of the student population all day.

Jack shrugs, "Whatever, man. I'll see you after school. Text me or some shit, we have to wait to pick up Theo."

Elliott grins, "Wonder what kind of day he's having, the little monster."

Jack walks down the hall away from the retreating back of his dipshit little brother, idiot needs to stop being so damn goofy all the time. He grabs the crumpled up piece of paper from his back pocket, his schedule says that Spanish is next, with a Mr. Schuester. Fuck this.

The bell rings as he approaches the door to Spanish, and fuck, he's late. Which means that the teacher's going to make a spectacle of the new kid as he walks in the door.

Sure enough, some curly-haired boy band reject is standing in front of the class as Jack walks through the door, and lights up at the sight of the scowling teen.

"Class, we have a new student with us this year," Mr. Schuester announces as he claps Jack on the shoulder, effectively stopping him from walking away to sit down.

Jack stares sullenly at the class, who stare sullenly back. Only a few faces show any curiosity, and it's mostly female, sniffing the water at new blood.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Mr. Schuester gestures to Jack.

He stares blankly at the young teacher. Fuck no. After a few beats of awkward silence, Mr. Schuester laughs a nervous little giggle.

"Alright then. Um, class, this is Jackson Davies. He's joining us from …." He looks to Jack, prompting.

Figuring if he doesn't say something, he'll be stuck up front for longer, Jack utters the first word he's said to anyone other than family since moving to this fucking cow town of Lima, Ohio.

"Seattle."

Encouraged, Mr. Schuester laughs some more, this time more confidently.

"A beautiful city. Well, welcome to Lima, and McKinley High. Go ahead and grab a seat…." Schuester scans the room.

"Go ahead a grab a seat next to Rachel," pointing towards a small brunette in a black tank and jeans with her head down, scribbling something in a notebook.

She doesn't look up, and Jack doesn't care. He's grateful to sit down and get away from this douchetastic teacher that hasn't let go of his shoulder.

* * *

Rachel doesn't want to go to Spanish.

She's hasn't seen or heard from Mr. Schue since the end of last year, and she doesn't want to see him now.

She goes into the classroom, and makes a beeline for a desk in the back. A first for Rachel Berry. She's vaguely aware of Mr. Schue introducing a new student (?), and saying her name towards the end. She doesn't look up at all.

The new kid (Jackson?) sits down next to her, and pulls out a notebook too. His notebook is torn up, with stickers all over, and pages threatening to spill out. Hardly looks like a newly bought school supply for the new year.

Rachel watches out of her peripheral vision, welcoming the distraction from Mr. Schue's bilingual babbling from the front of the classroom.

Her suspicions are confirmed as he scribbles on paper already written on. Whatever he's doing, the brown-haired boy next to her isn't working on Spanish. She can barely make out the chicken scratch on the paper, but it definitely looks like English.

She's so busy looking out of the corner of her eye at his paper, that she doesn't notice him looking up for a few seconds. Until she looks up, and her brown eyes meet startlingly bright blue eyes. He just stares at her, eyebrow raised, while she has the decency to blush at being caught.

She turns her attention back to her doodles, and he returns to whatever he was doing.

And then Mr. Schue calls on him.

* * *

"Jackson! Quieres cenar conmigo?"

Jack looks up slightly, but quickly focuses his attention back on the paper in front of him.

Mr. Schuester is greeted with silence from the back of the classroom, and as he waits for an answer that wasn't coming, he grows a little frustrated.

"Jackson, attention to the front please." Still no answer.

He pointedly ignores the teacher. So what? Fuck this shit. He doesn't want to be in Spanish anyways.

Mr. Schuester walks up to his desk, and Jackson still refuses to look up.

Jackson scribbles another sentence on his paper when it suddenly disappears from in front of him.

He mumbles "Fuck" as he lookes up quickly at Mr. Schuester, and stares at the teacher.

Schue sighs as the swear word tumbles from Jackson's mouth.

"Go."

Jackson just stares at him.

The girl next to him (Rache?) looks up finally at the confrontation, and watches Schuester with a confused expression.

"Go," Schuester repeats. "Go to Ms. Pillsbury's office."

Jack stands up, his six-foot frame bringing him eye to eye with Mr. Schuester as he slings his backpack over his shoulder.

He grabs the paper out of Mr. Schue's hands, and makes his way to the door.

Mr. Schuester, and the rest of the class, stares at the door for a moment, before Schue claps his hands and continues on with the class.

After a few moments, the class falls back into its original comatose state, and Rachel Berry is the only one left staring at the door.

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**Next up: Ms. Pillsbury's office, Noah Puckerman, and the implosion of the Glee club.**

**(ps, I'm looking for a beta, if anyone's interested)**


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